Actually, John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence with a very large, embellished signature, stating that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles. Since then, any such signature (and eventually, any signature) on a document has occasionally been referred to as a "John Hancock."
Yes, I think it’s a great little idiom & I always loved John Hancock’s signature on the Declaration of Independence….striking w/a flair for the dramatic!!👍
John Hancock was the first President of the First Continental Congress (essentially, the chairman of the representatives chosen by the different colonies i.e. states to decide what to do about their issues with the British government). John Hancock was the last to affix his signature to the document of the Declaration of Independence, which he did in a flourish, probably because he had a healthy ego (he was the second-richest man in the American colonies).
“Bang for your buck” doesn’t just mean a good deal - most often it carries with it the word “more” in a comparative sense, as in: you have $50 to spend and you could go to Nordstrom, but decide to go to Fred Meyer because it’s less expensive and you could get 2 pairs of jeans (or whatever) v. the 1 you could only get at Nordstrom because each pair costs more. You get more bang for your buck: more items for the money you spent. Also: many ppl say “frosh” for freshman. Unimpressed with the John Hancock and plead the fifth segments.
Those people in the UK refer to the junior and senior years of what we call high school (secondary education) as "sixth form," specifically "lower sixth form" and "upper sixth form." (That is, if I am not mistaken.)
Its honestly more relevant in High School than college. Also in college, these are official terms based on the number of hours completed rather than years completed. Often you have to be a Junior before you can take 300+ level classes - though I think this is a rule was removed.
In the US, I’ve always used it for both. In high school, you can use grade number and Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior. In college/university, I’ve only ever heard Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior. BUT, I’m 46, that should have changed since I graduated.
The opposite of a "New York minute" in American English is "island time", "island" referring to the Hawaii Islands, were the pace of life is much slower. I was actually in Hawaii a few months ago, and I almost missed my flight home because the airport security guards were taking their sweet time in scanning the luggages, lol.
@@gulfgal98 oh, i hasn't had that in awhile. Im in VA and it seems like we got a mix of southern and our own thing going. Wait, just caught that "own thing going" is that southern or?
The original concept behind "knock on wood' was that evil spirits listen to our talking and if you speak of some misfortune you haven't experienced, it gives them an idea how to hurt you. You knock on wood to invoke good spirits, nature spirits, to ward off the evil spirits from carrying out the specific misfortune you mentioned.
I've always heard that wood (as in trees) was specifically used because the vibrations would carry down into the roots, scaring the spirits away. Similar to ringing a bell.
Travis has part of it, but the whole story includes the superstition that a dryad or other fey creature lived inside the tree you were about to chop down, so you knocked on wood to wake it and warn it, so it wouldn't bounce the axe head back into your leg and confer a life-threatening chop.
Yes, I think Travis and Ross pretty much have the superstition correct. I think that this custom and belief actually originated with the Germanic tribes in the early Middle Ages, who had many woodland spirits.
I could've sworn that was a tradition inherited from the British which is why I'm surprised it's still not a superstition that bad spirits lurk in wood
I have heard two origins for the whole nine yards. One refers to the length of belt fed ammo in fighter planes during WW2. So if you give it the whole nine yards, you gave it everything you had. Also, and I believe this one is the original, it could refer to square rigged sailing ships. Sails were called yards. For a time, three masted ships could have three yards on each mast. So giving it the whole 9 yards means you have all of the sails up and in the wind. You gave it your all.
The American distinction between "broil" and "grill": When you GRILL, there is a heat source BELOW an item which is on a grillwork cooking the item. When you BROIL, there is a heatsource which is overhead (only) cooking the item, whether it is on a grillwork or in a pan.
oh yeah, was really weird to see Broil in there, because we still Grill haha. I personally broil things in an oven to give them a nice brown, crispy top, but they are already cooked anyway
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. In a oven we grill from the top Out side we use a bbq or a grill
@@grahamlowe314 Which brings up another distinction here in the US. Grilling food and barbecuing food are different. Grilling means high heat from below and a short cooking time, usually uncovered. Barbecuing is slow heat over a long period of time and is done in an enclosed unit. Most people own something that can do both but restaurants and professionals use separate equipment. Many barbecues look like old oil drums sliced in half from top to bottom and put on their side. In other words, you grill a steak or burger but barbecue a brisket or ribs.
@@hectorsmommy1717 Now in the English speaking world all what you have described is grilling meat. We understand the difference between grilling meat in a house or outside . We also have bbq with covers and know how to cook fast or slow with them .Remember it’s the English language
I think that’s closer to the real meaning like she said “saying something that already happened” it’s like a quarter back being late Sunday and showing up Monday so sort of being late to the party of saying something
@@DogeDragone right. But the reason the phrase refers to Monday morning is that most football games happen on Sunday. That context is needed to know that Monday morning is referring to after an event has already happened.
I more refers to the people that talk about what should have happened during the game. With the benefit of hindsight. Very similar to armchair quarterback
@@flyingwombatazazz6736, similar but not quite the same, an armchair quarterback is slightly different in that an armchair quarterback. An armchair quarterback is often suggesting alternative methods either while or even before the person who is actually responsible for making the call is making them, they often will not be effected by the results of their suggestions or have their idea effect what is going on, they are also often less informed suggestions than a better informed person would be making. A Monday morning quarterback is being criticized for making what they consider the better call after the fact (though clearly it may not be) whereas the armchair quarterback is being criticized for making them while the decision making is going on, either with irritation because their ideas are unwanted or of lower quality than those who are actually making the decisions or has no effect one way or the other on the decision being made in the moment.
John Hancock is actually the one that stated he was going to put his signature on in huge handwriting so that everyone in King George could see it very easily. It’s the biggest signature in the center of the document and it is the easiest to see!
@@Phiyedough grilling in the US is to cook from below with heat (usually flame) passing through a grating that holds the item being grilled. Broiling is heat from above, even the sun will broil you.
@@Phiyedough That’s because you misunderstand what barbecue is. Cooking for a short time on a grate over direct, dry, high heat from charcoal, a gas flame or similar is grilling. It is not barbecue. Barbecue involves a lengthy (hours long) cook over low, indirect heat and smoke, with careful control of humidity in the cooking vessel, or barbecue pit. Barbecue involves planning and a significant time commitment. You can’t, e.g., spontaneously invite coworkers to your place for a barbecue after work unless you are planning to eat well past midnight or even late the next day. Throwing a few burgers and sausages on a grill is not barbecue.
John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence and his signature is very prominent (i.e., BIG) in relation to the other founding fathers' signatures. He wanted to make a statement by doing so rather just give his endorsement. Colloquially, "Give me your John Hancock." just means the same thing as "Sign here."
It was primarily an act of defiance, since they knew that if their effort failed, they would probably be hunted down and executed for treason, so yeah, might as well sign big.
Even ostensibly educated Yanks (like me) sometimes stumble when referring to the Declaration of Independence vs. the Constitution. *Fun fact* both have an introductory statement. Only one is titled Preamble.
In the US, you're also a Freshman in the first year of high school, and high schools use Sophomore, Junior, and Senior as well. We usually don't reduce it to anything (that's much more of a British trait with words and phrases).
@@mikeevans4585 being behind the eight ball is in the cue ball is his hind the eight ball, so the eight ball will be hit no matter what one of the players on balls he goes for. It’s not just a disability because it’s something that your opponent deliberately tries to do to you so that you have to waste your turn without hitting any balls, which is home table, scratch and allows them to pick up the cue ball behind the shooting line when used correctly, it means either that you’re at the severe disadvantage you can’t keep your balls and they get to place the queue wherever they want or that someone need a dick move that with you and disadvantage and it wasn’t just a turn of luck that put you there
The British version of "behind the eight ball" is "snookered." The whole nine yards comes from cutting cloth, as long ago cloth came in 9 yard bolts, so to go the whole nine yards meant getting it all.
I had heard that "the whole nine yards" came from wwII, when the ammo belts for the machineguns in US fighters were 27 ft long, so if you came back to base without any bullets left you had given the enemy the whole 9 yards
John Hancock was President of the US Congress! He signed the Declaration of Independence the other 55 signed later! He had the biggest signature on it.
A Yd is 3’ (ft) or 36” (in) The whole 9 Yds is the amount of length of .50 caliber ammunition belt in the box. 27 Feet of bullets in the belt of ammunition.
A grill cooks something on the bottom. A broiler cooks something on the top. The grill touches the food, the broiler doesn’t touch it and thus isn’t a grill.
Important points missed Monday morning quarterback, traditionally all American football games were on Sunday so Monday morning at work everyone is discussing the games with would've should've could've. John Hancock on Declaration of Independence his is the largest signature, rumors are that he wanted King George to be able to see it.
Similar to the Monday morning quarterback is the armchair quarterback. The armchair quarterback watches all the football games from his armchair and thinks he knows what everybody should do, even though he may never have even played the game. It also refers to someone who acts like they know everything about a situation, when he really isn't even involved.
"Sophomore" is a combination of Greek root words- "Soph" meaning wise, and "More" meaning foolish. Carries a connotation of someone with some knowledge, yet still a fool in other ways.
This is what I have heard. "The whole nine yards" originated (I believe) from the WWII 'Flying Tigers' in China. The Curtiss P-40 fighter plane had belt-fed machine guns that had bullet-carrying belts that were nine yards long. If a pilot shot all nine yards at a Japanese airplane, he could say "I gave him the whole nine yards!" meaning, I shot everything I had at the enemy plane. In modern usage, it roughly means: "everything", or "I gave it all I could."
If you told an American you were going to "grill this chicken", they would assume you were going to cook it on either an outdoor grill, like a propane or charcoal grill (what Brits would call a barbecue) or an indoor gas grill (the same thing but with a vent hood over it for grilling without going outside).
4:31 We do have the similar term "country mile" to refer to a long, undefined distance. The idea being that rural people greatly underestimate (or understate) distances, since everything is farther apart out in the country, ergo what feels like only one mile to them might in actuality be more like two miles.
For about 12 years I worked in the Boston office of a British publishing company. One word I ran across that confused the Brits on the team was “Druthers”. It came up in some discussion; my British boss asked for opinions. I said “If I had my druthers we’d ...”. My response left the Brits on the team furrowing their brows. It basically means “choices”, as in “if the choices were mine”. I’ve understood it comes from a contraction of “I’d rather” and it seems it was popularized by Mark Twain.
I use the expression d'ruthers still ) likely from Mother. Yes to the above, it seems to be a vulgarization of "I'd rather, x or y, if I had my d'ruthers.
In some of the many dialects of Southern American English in the 19th Century, “rather” was pronounced as closer to “ruther”. So “I’d rather” sounded like “I’d ruther” or “I druther” and the expression stuck.
Broiling is cooking something (usually meat but not always) _under_ a close flame. On an oven, the broiler was traditionally a compartment underneath the main oven, so the food would be cooked from above.
Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination, so when your mum asks if you ate the last cookie (biscuit?), you might plead the fifth. "Hawaiian Time" is pretty much the opposite of a New York Minute. In Hawaii, a party invite that says 7 pm means most folks show up at 8:30 pm.
Y’all: The English language once distinguished between singular “thou/thee” and plural “ye/you” but lost these distinctions starting around the 16th cent. or so. It turns out, however, that it’s useful to have separate singular and plural pronouns in the second person. Different dialects have come up with different solutions: In Brooklyn, it’s “youze.” In Pittsburgh, it’s “y’inz.” In the Midwest, it’s “you guys.” In the South, it’s “y’all,” and for emphasis, it’s “ALL y’all.”
And "y'inz" has its roots in the Appalachian speech of West Virginia (since so many in Western PA hail from W. Va.): it's a contraction of "you'uns, which is a further contraction of "you young ones." "Young'uns" to "you'uns" to "Y'inz.". Or y'all. Fun with American dialects! :)
When referring to high school/college (University) years, some are obvious. "Freshman", as a way to denote the newest and "Senior" to denote the oldest are pretty straight forward. Junior is a little odd, but essentially means 'younger than the seniors'. The really interesting name is Sophomore: This is thought to derive from folk use of two Greek terms, sophos, meaning “wise,” and moros, meaning “foolish, dull,”. Sophomore originally probably meant a wise moron! I think this is applied to 2nd year students as many THINK they are now experienced, but they still have a lot to learn. This term dates back to the 1650s.
In English, the second person plural pronoun is the same as the second person singular pronoun, "you." This can create confusion in speech, so various different words have developed to serve as the second person plural pronoun. In much of the US south, "y'all" is that second person plural. Around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the equivalent is "yinz." Other places have other substitutes, such as "you'ns" and others.
I'm from cali so we kinda just say "you guys" like a nonbinary term to refer to a group of people, but i try to say "y'all" more often so it's more inclusive :P
"For the birds" The phrase was coined in the US military during World War II. The original phrase included a swear word, talking about birds pecking at horse manure for seeds. That's for the birds hit its peak in popularity around the 1960s. It was used more often within the United States.
Here in the South, we sometimes say, "All y'all." It generally means more people than just y'all ... so everybody in a particular situation. For example, when addressing a few people at a large table in a restaurant, "So y'all want the pulled pork? Oh, all y'all want that?" as in everybody at the table does.
In reference to the sophomore phrase, the same is the case for American high school. Additionally, 'freshman' can be used to mean a newly incoming politician. (e.g., a freshman representative.) Sophomore can also mean the second of something like an artist's second album. It's a very limited use of the word though; it's not an exact synonym of the word 'second'.
Sophomore is the abbreviation of "sophisticated moron" which would be offensive to some these days. But the implication is that second year students think they have some wisdom, but they really are 'sophisticated.... "
PS. A university is a collection of colleges. You go to the university of Illinois but you are in the college of engineering or liberal arts or business. As opposed to going to Augustana College which is a liberal arts school entirely.
In WWII, the Grumman F6 Hellcat fighter’s machine guns’ ammo belt had enough bullets to be nine yards long (2400 rounds, IIRC). So a pilot might go into a strafing run on a aircraft carrier (for example) and say, “I got it in my gunsights and _gave it the whole nine yards_ “ - shot his entire ammo load on it.
Ironically, I always heard "the whole nine yards" was of Scottish origin, referring to the length of cloth it took to make a kilt that "covered everything." After doing some research, I think it mostly just means "all of the fabric" because fabric was sold in bolts that came in multiples of 3 yards, so "the whole 6 yards" or "the whole 9 yards" became common sayings that meant "used everything up."
The idea is that after someone has had one year of experience, whether in high school or college, they think they know it all. But they still have a lot to learn.
Fun fact: there were two idioms that are connected to phrases or regional words in Germany. We also say "Knock on wood" for pretty much the same situation. And famously, a grilled chicken is called a "broiler" in Eastern Germany.
I take a bit of an exception for the broiled = grilled. "Broiled" usually inside oven ov a rack or sheet. Grilled usually in a pan, such as s black wrought iron pan on top of the oven.
The term broil is referenced in Alice through the Looking Glass, which starts with the words "'Twas brillig" which is explained as meaning the time of day when you start broiling things for dinner. So it was in common UK usage in Victorian times. People do use knock on wood here, and if no actual wood is available will tap their own heads.
@@aspenrebel In the US, a grill is a cooking surface with parallel metal bars -- a gridiron. To grill usually means to cook on a gridiron (even though grilled cheese is cooked in a pan or griddle). Broiling is more general, referring to any cooking by high, dry heat.
On the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock was the first signer and his signature is the largest. Supposedly, he said that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles..
Freshman, sophomore, junior and senior are also used to denote a hierarchy in the student body. The terms are used in American High Schools as well as Universities
And in the universities the designation reflects the number of credits that have been completed. A person could be finished with their first year, but if they didn’t complete enough credits (they were going part time or dropped or flunked classes) they would still technically be a freshman. Our university considered 12 credits a semester as full-time but you’d actually need to complete 32 credits per year to move up to the next rank. I don’t remember if high school cared about the number of units completed per year but you needed to have completed the required courses and a certain amount of units to graduate.
Sophomore: The Greek words σοφός (wise) and μωρός (fool) put together, "Sophos" and "Moronic". Sophomoric means that someone may have done a lot of reading and studying but lacks real-world experience and wisdom.
I’d liken it more to the Dunning-Kruger effect where someone has had some education and thinks they’re smart, but isn’t as smart as they think they are.
"knock on wood" is used by the British as "touch wood." It was so used in the film Master and Commander: The Other Side of the World. It's origin is in fact Celtic.
It"s funny, but here in Slovenia ( and other ex Yugoslav countries as well) we have "knock on wood" superstition also! In Serbia they usually say:"Knock on wood so evil can"t hear you!"
Here in the US, it comes from the belief that Druids or fairies live in the trees and you "knock on wood" so that they won't take offense and change your luck. I always thought it came from the Irish, but maybe not.
Freshman, sophomore, Jr, Sr are also used during the 4 years of high school, not just university. Also, African Americans will use "y'all" regardless of where they live. It's a part of their vernacular.
In UK (unless it has changed since I went to school) high school lasts either 5 years or 7 years, so we don't really have names for the particular years. A possible source of confusion is that the 6th form lasts 2 years, the lower 6th and the upper 6th.
@@TheJazzy1980 : That's exactly what I was gonna say! "Black people say y'all no matter where they live", is because almost all of them are from the South.
The whole nine yards stems from the length of a string of ammunition in world war 2 aircraft. When a pilot unloaded his entire string of ammunition into another aircraft, he gave the other pilotthe whole nine yards.
Most idiomatic phrases would not be a problem for English speakers, problems would arise for people who don’t have English as their first language. When I was training people at work I avoided slang and idioms. It made life so much simpler.
"In the ball park" & "threw them a curve ball" are both particularly American phrases, since they come from baseball. "In the ball park" means "in the vicinity, in the same general region," & not just physically speaking -- a numerical estimate is often called a "ball park figure" since it's supposed to be a number that's "in the ball park" of the exact figure. "Throwing someone a curve ball" is springing something unexpectedly on someone -- another baseball expression for something unexpected would be that something "came out of left field". The Oxford English dictionary dates the use of "the whole nine yards" to 1855, & apparently "the whole six yards" was used earlier still, but it's not clear if it's talking about yards of ground or yards of fabric or yards of rope or yards of distance or what. We also have "the whole ball of wax", "the whole enchilada", & "the whole shebang" which all mean exactly the same thing as "the whole nine yards". "For the birds" apparently comes from WWII US military slang -- due to birds being observed pecking seeds out of horse manure, anything third rate or useless was called "sh*t for the birds", which was subsequently cleaned up to be "it's for the birds". Now *I* want to know about the origins of the Northern English expression "trouble at t'mill"!
The commonly considered origin for "the whole nine yards" refers to the supposed length of ammo belts carried in a WWII fighter plane's wings. So, "I gave him the whole nine yards" meant the pilot shot all his ammo at one target.
"Trouble at t'mill" means there's a big, usually on-going problem. It comes from the industrial revolution when whole towns (especially in Yorkshire and Lancashire) were reliant on the employment at a mill (e.g. for the manufacture of fabrics). As problems on which a whole area depended on were far-reaching, "trouble at t'mill" was very serious. When it wasn't literally true because there was problems at a factory, it became a somewhat humerous phrase. I recommend watching the British comedy drama of "Brass" (ITV & Channel 4, 1983-1990) which illustrates it perfectly.
@@lancerevell5979 - that usage may have contributed to its popularity, but the phrase was in use long before aviation. One of the earliest usages referred to a seamstress who had been given nine yards of cloth, ordinarily enough for three shirts, and used the whole nine yards to make one - presumably rather fancy - shirt.
Yeah, it's more-than-likely that he did his due diligence before filming. He's a pro; been at this for enough years, he's not terribly likely to get caught unawares.😉
There are several origins that I've heard for "the whole nine yards," but the one I give the most credence to is that upper-class women would buy cloth for clothing for themselves and their families, usually in nine-yard bolts. They would then give the cloth to their servants who made their clothes (or, in some cases, to a piece-work clothesmaker) and specify what they wanted made from it. Because these lower-class tradesmen and women had the habit of keeping some of the cloth for themselves, to use to make their own clothes, they would often be braced to use "the whole nine yards" on the garments they were being told to make. In that version of the saying, it has the meaning of "going all in" on a goal, without necessarily considering your own needs first. So, when you give it your all, with no concern for yourself, you're going "the whole nine yards."
Personally, I'm partial to its origin being with early fighter planes. The ammunition belts for their machine guns were supposedly 9 yards long. Any fighter plane that returned from a sortie with no ammunition was said to have given the enemy "the whole nine yards".
I was going to add “my two cents” and say something about John Hancock and about freshman / frosh - but I see that others have already weighed in on those topics.
When he signed the Declaration of Independence he did it was a bold hand, in a conspicuous manner, and rose from his seat, pointing to it, and said, “There, John Bull can read my name without spectacles, he may double his reward, and I put his at defiance.”
One phrase that I've noticed confusion from foreigners about was "What's happening?" It's a standard non-specific greeting but people not from the US think it refers to something specific.
Those in the US who were alive in the 80s will recognize "What's happening?" as a non-specific greeting. We even had a television show called What's Happening!! in the 80s. Awesome show!
Maybe it’s generational? Older people in the USA know it’s non-specific. Generally, the answer to What’s happening? is It’s all good, you? or Not much, you? No one needs a verbal blow-by-blow of your day/week/year. What’s happening? became noticed in the Southern US, the Caribbean, and the UK in the 1950s. Took off in the ‘70s (I think because of Jesus Christ Superstar), and then there was the sit-com. My $0.2.
The whole nine yards (to give all you got) comes from WWII fighter aircraft, the ammo belts for the guns where nine yards long. Giving the whole nine yards was giving the other guy all the ammo you had.
Declaration of Independence: 1776. Constitution: 11 years later. John Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence is by far the largest. It is claimed he did so “King George could read it even without his spectacles.”
Broil is specifically to use the top heating element inside an oven, rather than the bottom heating element; it's hotter so it cooks quicker, plus it browns the top of food, so you get bubbly and browned nelted cheese on top of a casserole by broiling it for a few minutes after baking it most of the way through.
In informal conversation, using the phrase, "I plead the Fifth" _can_ mean that you don't want to say anything that will get you into trouble, but it can _also_ mean that you don't feel in any way obliged to answer the question just asked. In some games of pool, you're not allowed to touch the 8-ball with the cue-ball until the very end of the game. To do so beforetime causes you to be disqualified and lose the game. But if the ball that you need to sink into a pocket next is "behind the 8-ball," you have a very big and important obstacle to overcome.
The sophomore thing is also used other context as well. I've mostly heard it when talking about music artists, referring to their second album as their "sophomore" album. I also think I've heard the first album being called "freshman debut"
No Louisiana minutes, but here's a "hot minute" which in the South is the opposite of a New York minute. You might say for instance, "it's been a hot minute since we last got together" meaning it's been quite a while. But in the North it still kind of menas "quickly". There's another concept called "island time" in Florida and Hawaii, where the idea is basically, the natives there are happy to kind of let things go with the flow, so things will happen whenever they want them to. It refers not per se to unpredictably, but that things will happen kind of slowly at their own pace. Of course, you can't say it the way you use new york minute or hot minute. Instead, it's more an explanation. Like, "When will they open?" is answered with "They're on island time." Or, "Do you think we're going to get our food?"; "I don't know, they're on island time". As for freshie--you can say freshie. But "freshmeat" is more common to refer to the new underclassmen. For what it's worth, I think you'd enjoy some of the Southern sayings. They tend to be more colorful. They can also tend to have double meanings. Like, "bless your heart" or "Aren't you precious"--totally opposite the seeming meaning. Or "pot calling the kettle black". "Shit or get off the pot". "Triple bagger" (someone so ugly they get a bag, you get a bag, and they get a second just in case both of yours fall off). "A quart half empty" (meaning of someone that they're full of shit). "Playing without a full deck" (meaning someone is crazy or stupid). "Finer than a frog's hair" (a genuine compliment). "Like a pig in shit" (meaning very happy) or "shit-eating grin" (as of someone pleased with themself). "Burn that bridge when we get there" (meaning we know there's problems eminently with the current direction but we can worry about them as they arise). "Fair to middlin'" (meaning doing okay, not great, but not bad). "Can't never did", similar to "Can't never could". And "Big fish in a little pond" along with "Little fish in a big pond". Anyways, I just find southern aphorisms and idioms colorful and gun.
One of the few things I really enjoy about the south, is that I get to use triple and even sometimes quadruple contractions. For example, shouldn’t’ve, i’dn’t, ain’t’ve, etc. in that vein you get the idea. They’re very fun to whip out in text form bc most ppl I know don’t notice them auditorally
Y'all is definitely a regional thing. People in other parts of America will say You-All or You Guys. Just different ways of addressing multiple people at the same time, ie. 2nd Person Plural. In Texas and its environs, you'll also hear something of a greeting like "Howdy Y'All!" The "Howdy" is short for the ancient greeting "How do you do?"
In Spain we also say touch wood, and the meaning is the same. Instead of knocking, we touch the table with the index and pinky, like this 🤘, and if there's none around, we touch our own head
The whole 9 yards. The video I saw said that is originated with the soldier's machine gun. For example: another soldier asks if this soldier shot the enemy. He says, "Yes and I gave him the whole 9 yards too." There is a belt with bullets and it feeds into the machine gun so the soldier can fire those bullets. The belt that holds the bullets is 27 feet long. Or 9 yards. When you gave the enemy the whole 9 yards, you shot "all" of the bullets in the belt. All 9 yards of it.
I feel it is still a reference to American Football, to go nine yards is almost a first down. Obviously going one more yard in the next down will get you a first down, allowing you to continue your march down the field. No? Please, others chime in!
"The whole nine yards" came about from purchasing dirt, top soil or sand. Early on dirt and sand was sold by the cubic yard, 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. Most early dirt dump trucks and trailers held a maximum of 9 cubic yards, or 729 cubic feet. The more earth you bought, the cheaper the unit price by the way, if your figures indicated that you needed 8 and 1/2 yards of earth people would go ahead and order; THE WHOLE NINE YARDS.
According to Wikipedia, "the whole nine yards" refers to a bolt of cloth. The context is that in order to make a very large, luxurious shirt, the tailor had to use the whole nine yards of cloth; cloth that usually would make three shirts. The term was attested in 1855, so it predates American football.
In college the terms freshman, sophomore and whatever is actually based on how many credits you have earned not how many years you have been there. I was only a freshman for one semester and graduated in less than four years. In high school it’s different.
Apparently you've never read "Through the Looking Glass", since Humpty Dumpty, in explaining the strange words in Jabberwocky, says that "brillig" refers to the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.
There's an advanced version of "y'all" that southerners also use very frequently (at least where i'm from which is Texas.) "Y'all'd've." Which is short for "you all would have" or "you all could have."
I'm from the US South. I heard the saying "a country mile" - meaning something isn't closeby or it takes a long time to do something. Anyway, I've always used the term "John Hancock" . As in: 'where do I sign my John Hancock" or "can you read my John Hancock"
Y'all has so many more versions that can make anyone learning American English cross their eyes. my favorite is all'y'all'd've, which roughly translates to "all of you all should have"
We have another quarterback phrase: armchair quarterback(ing). It refers to someone with more information expressing an opinion on the decisions of the quarterback (in the context of watching a football game) or equivalent decision-making person (in the context of other sports or other life situations). Both are annoying, but armchair quaterbacking is done in real-time as opposed to after the fact.
"The Whole 9 Yards" means "Everything" - In WW2 when shot up and damaged American bombers would fly back their bases in England, they would often dump any unnecessary weight out of the aircraft to help them get back home. One of those things were the unspent ammo and belts of ammo, which were 9 yards in total. Hence, the order to dump the whole 9 yards meant to throw everything out of the aircraft.
On the subject of Y'all. While attending Aviation Challenge (simulated pilot training summer camp) in Huntsville, Alabama there was a girl in our group that was from the South that used Y'all a lot. To the point that the rest of us, about a dozen of us, started using it so much that she became frustrated with our overuse of it. At which point she chided us with "Y'all better stop saying Y'all, Y'all"
One of my favorite memories is from when I was studying at a military training school. We had a female soldier from Georgia who had a thick accent and of course said y'all all the time. One day before class, myself, my goofy friend from California, and an army sergeant with a tough exterior but was really a super cool dude, were sitting in the classroom and bullshitting. For some reason, my goofy friend capped off his sentence with a y'all. Sergeant looked at him with a death glare and said "if I ever effing hear you say y'all ever again-" and was immediately cut off by our Georgia girl opening the door, sticking her head in, and saying "hey y'all!"
One of the most annoying things I've seen is when Yankees try to use y'all but use it in the singular when speaking to only one person. I hope y'all weren't doing that. The only time that's acceptable is when through the context it's clear you're asking someone about themselves and their family or partner who isn't present.
Also, did they still have that room full of animal traps made by the special forces guy? Did they still teach that, for in case a pilot gets shot down behind enemy lines and has to survive by living off the land?
The whole nine yards is a phrase used a lot here but not too many people know where it came from. It was used back in the day when you'd have to go and get your dresses personally made. You can technically make a dress with just a few yards but the best possible dresses required 9 yds. So a dressmaker would say, "do you want the whole nine yards?" Meaning the most you could possibly do or the best you can possibly have.
In the Pittsburgh PA area, "yinz" replaces y'all. It's just in this region. Anyone who comes here is a little confused (I was). There are many unusual phrases unique to the area. They originated in England - Yorkshire, I'm guessing, as "red up" was used by Charlotte Bronte, and that means to "make ready." It used to be for making a person ready; now it's used here in relation to your home/closet, etc. "Red up my house."
People only think it's "yinz" because the store owner from Ohio started making t-shirts that had it spelled that way. "Yunz" or "youns" are actually somewhat of a contraction of "you guys", not "yi guys".
The whole nine yards comes from world war 2. American fighter planes had ammo belts 9 yards long that fed the machine gun. The original meaning was to use all 9 yards of the ammo belt on a single target. Nowadays we use it as “everything” in a way. A little less bloody lol
John Hancock was actually one of the last signers of the Declaration of Independence . He wrote his signature in bold script because he wanted King George III to read it without his spectacles . During the Revolution John Hancock owned a shipping company . The British seized his ships and his home , so he was very angry at the British Crown .
FYI: "Whole nine yards": references that belts of 50 caliber bullets were loaded into WW2 planes at 9 yards. When the gun was done firing all the bullets in that belt. You gave them the "whole 9 yards".
originated as U.S. Army slang in World War II; the original phrase was “that's shit for the birds", but it was altered later to remove the expletive and make it less “vulgar". It came from the observation that birds would often peck at horse manure for seeds buried in it.
If you look hard enough, you can find abbreviations for literally anything, including personal pronouns; but in general, I don't think "freshman" and "sophomore" usually get abbreviated in most contexts. Also, these terms aren't just for college; we also use them in high school. "Knock on wood" is much too old to be of American origin. In fact, it already was older than rocks before the Angles and Saxons arrived in Britain. Sources that I check now, are consistently claiming that "for the birds" only dates to the nineteen forties and originally referred to birds pecking at horse droppings. In the past, I had been given to understand that it dated to nineteenth century Europe and referred to the custom of breaking stale bread into crumbs and throwing it outside (whereupon, predictably, it would be eaten by birds), but I cannot now find any evidence for that etymology, and unfortunately I don't remember where I heard it in the first place. A broiler pan has two parts: the bottom part is basically just a tray (with edges to prevent spilling into the oven), and then the top part sits inside that, elevated an inch or so, and has slits in it. You can put food (typically greasy meat) on top, and put it in the oven, and the grease will drip down through the slits, so that your food isn't soaking in it. To "broil" something is to cook it on a broiler pan, in the oven. Grilling is kind of similar but is normally done outdoors, on a grill (usually over open flames), rather than indoors, in an oven. However, the distinction does occasionally get blurred, e.g., Burger King used to advertise that their meat was "flame broiled", and while they were doing it indoors, their cooking apparatus was more like a grill than an oven. The second-person pronouns in English keep going through this cycle, wherein the singular forms aren't used very much and become archaic, but then the plural forms start to be used for both singular and plural, and then people are dissatisfied with the ambiguity and invent new expressly-plural forms, like "you guys" and "youse" (and then "youse guys") and "yinz" (and then "all yinz") and "y'all" (and then "all y'all"). Recently I have even seen some reports of "all y'all" showing up in the singular; so far, I have not heard of anyone taking the logical next step beyond that (which I suppose might be something like "all all-y'all" or "all y'all guys" or possibly "alls y'allsies"), but time will tell. British terms that Americans don't necessarily know include "digestive" and "sticky wicket". We also get somewhat confused by the many and varied (and in some cases rather sordid) British (ab)uses of the word "pudding".
@@ryacus I've actually had digestives, but only because I deliberately sought them out; most Americans have no idea what they are. I like to describe them as "In the same general category as graham crackers and vanilla wafers, but not exactly the same as either, and sometimes they have a thin layer of chocolate on them." That's imprecise, but it's the best I can do.
The Expression, "The Whole Nine Yards." dates back to World War II. The machine guns on the fighter planes had a belt of ammunition that was nine yards long. So if you were firing all your bullets at the enemy, that was known as "Giving them the whole nine yards." It's usually used in a context to describe something unpleasant. Example, "The upstairs toilet sprung a leak, itthe water damage destroyed all the furniture in the living room, the carpet, the wall paper--the whole nine yards."
Broil and grill are actually opposites. In grilling the heat source is below the food. It actually leaves marks on the food like little parallel lines. Broiling is when the heat is ABOVE the food. The element at the top of the oven is the only one being used, with the food getting crispy on top. This is found on electric and gas ovens in North America. Sometimes gas ovens will have a special more shallow lower section below the main oven that uses the same flames, but now you locate the food beneath the flames, instead of under them as in baking or frying.
Many languages including all romance languages have a plural version of "you" different from the singular word. English does not, but in the South we say Y'all. She is right that it is a contraction of "you all", but we don't think of those words while saying or writing it. She's right though - it sounds good and is fun to say.
One origin for “The whole nine yards” is that World War II aircraft machine gun belts were nine yards long and they would use that phrase “Give ‘em the whole nine yards.”
John Hancock's signature was on the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. And what made it distinctive was not that he signed first, but that he signed in such large letters that his signature is the most prominent.
Deeper dive… Y’all is actually singular, as in “Hey John, where y’all going for lunch?” Plural is “all y’all”, as in “Hey everybody, where are all y’all going for lunch?” …. At least in my experience. 🙂
@@tpatt525_Tiff_ The etymology of many words is often murky, but I think if you would take a survey of US southerners, most would agree that “y’all” is second person plural. I like your comment on “All Y’all” addresses a larger group, again plural.
I got called out in high school for saying You all instead of Y’all, I’m from Oklahoma and went to school in Texas. My classmates were like where are you from? 😂
She kinda glossed over the usefulness of a y'all such as asking 'hey are y'all going to the movies?' Maybe she should said its like saying 'you guys' cause the examples of you all given were awkward and she didn't even get into it being used as a singular term for a group instead of the plural for people cause 'all of y'all' is a phrase used to mean multiples of different multiples.
"The Whole Nine Yards" - I am aware of two sources. 1. Refers to Dress-making; a ream of fabric is 9 yards long. That is a lot of fabric to use to make one dress! 2. A belt of .50 caliber rounds used in the machine gun P-51 World War 2 aircraft is 9 yards long.
So the phrase "the whole nine yards" is in reference to machine gun ammunition. Specifically, it was the amount of ammunition needed to get into enemy tanks, because the belt was nine yards long. So to go the whole nine yards is to give everything that you've got.
The whole nine yards came from WWII gunners on bombers. A belt of ammunition for the .50 caliber guns was 9 yards long. So when they were shooting at enemy fighters, they would tell the gunner to give them the “whole nine yards” i.e. shoot all of the bullets at them. Now it means “ to have everything/to include everything”.
Actually, John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence with a very large, embellished signature, stating that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles. Since then, any such signature (and eventually, any signature) on a document has occasionally been referred to as a "John Hancock."
Yes, I think it’s a great little idiom & I always loved John Hancock’s signature on the Declaration of Independence….striking w/a flair for the dramatic!!👍
Just put your "John Hancock" there. Or .... your "JH".
John Hancock was the first President of the First Continental Congress (essentially, the chairman of the representatives chosen by the different colonies i.e. states to decide what to do about their issues with the British government). John Hancock was the last to affix his signature to the document of the Declaration of Independence, which he did in a flourish, probably because he had a healthy ego (he was the second-richest man in the American colonies).
😂I was screaming as she was “diving into her history knowledge.”
@@lgempet2869 So everyone can see it: www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Declaration-of-Independence-000009931570_Medium.jpg
Actually hilariously in rural America and the South the phrase "it'll take a minute" actually means something that will take a long time.
Similarly, if you haven't seen someone in a long, long time, you might say "hey Fred, it's been a minute!"
@@ArtofFreeSpeech Agreed; most I know use it thusly, as well. (I'm in California)
There's also "It's been a hot minute" which means it's been a long time...
@@davarrashayde that's pretty much the same. It just in some cultural context you can omit the hot
“Bang for your buck” doesn’t just mean a good deal - most often it carries with it the word “more” in a comparative sense, as in: you have $50 to spend and you could go to Nordstrom, but decide to go to Fred Meyer because it’s less expensive and you could get 2 pairs of jeans (or whatever) v. the 1 you could only get at Nordstrom because each pair costs more. You get more bang for your buck: more items for the money you spent. Also: many ppl say “frosh” for freshman. Unimpressed with the John Hancock and plead the fifth segments.
"Freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior" often applies to the highschool years too.
Those people in the UK refer to the junior and senior years of what we call high school (secondary education) as "sixth form," specifically "lower sixth form" and "upper sixth form." (That is, if I am not mistaken.)
Its honestly more relevant in High School than college. Also in college, these are official terms based on the number of hours completed rather than years completed. Often you have to be a Junior before you can take 300+ level classes - though I think this is a rule was removed.
Also at one time Freshman was abbreviated to Frosh. He's only a Frosh.
Quits skoo joins a gang den stab dem peeps .
Dey gotz ta know who run shit .
In the US, I’ve always used it for both. In high school, you can use grade number and Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior. In college/university, I’ve only ever heard Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior. BUT, I’m 46, that should have changed since I graduated.
The opposite of a "New York minute" in American English is "island time", "island" referring to the Hawaii Islands, were the pace of life is much slower. I was actually in Hawaii a few months ago, and I almost missed my flight home because the airport security guards were taking their sweet time in scanning the luggages, lol.
In the South, the opposite of a "NewYork minute" is often stated as "slow as molasses."
Or Caribbean islands
In South Africa African time means when somebody dosesn't stick to an agreed time schedule, they come in late.
How about "slow as molasses in January"
@@gulfgal98 oh, i hasn't had that in awhile. Im in VA and it seems like we got a mix of southern and our own thing going.
Wait, just caught that "own thing going" is that southern or?
The original concept behind "knock on wood' was that evil spirits listen to our talking and if you speak of some misfortune you haven't experienced, it gives them an idea how to hurt you. You knock on wood to invoke good spirits, nature spirits, to ward off the evil spirits from carrying out the specific misfortune you mentioned.
I've always heard that wood (as in trees) was specifically used because the vibrations would carry down into the roots, scaring the spirits away. Similar to ringing a bell.
Travis has part of it, but the whole story includes the superstition that a dryad or other fey creature lived inside the tree you were about to chop down, so you knocked on wood to wake it and warn it, so it wouldn't bounce the axe head back into your leg and confer a life-threatening chop.
@@rossanderson4440 see, that's fascinating. I've not heard that version, but it makes sense the further you go.
Yes, I think Travis and Ross pretty much have the superstition correct. I think that this custom and belief actually originated with the Germanic tribes in the early Middle Ages, who had many woodland spirits.
I could've sworn that was a tradition inherited from the British which is why I'm surprised it's still not a superstition that bad spirits lurk in wood
I have heard two origins for the whole nine yards. One refers to the length of belt fed ammo in fighter planes during WW2. So if you give it the whole nine yards, you gave it everything you had. Also, and I believe this one is the original, it could refer to square rigged sailing ships. Sails were called yards. For a time, three masted ships could have three yards on each mast. So giving it the whole 9 yards means you have all of the sails up and in the wind. You gave it your all.
I was wondering about that
The sailing one reminds me of being three sheets to the wind during a pub crawl.... 😆
Thanks - I always thought it described rushing in football but it always means giving your all against a tough odds
I like the idea of dealing thirty cal. Rounds of hot ass lead to to nazis so im gonna go with that firsfi.dint fault me for it
I wonder how much fabric comes on a bolt. That was my thought.
The American distinction between "broil" and "grill": When you GRILL, there is a heat source BELOW an item which is on a grillwork cooking the item. When you BROIL, there is a heatsource which is overhead (only) cooking the item, whether it is on a grillwork or in a pan.
oh yeah, was really weird to see Broil in there, because we still Grill haha. I personally broil things in an oven to give them a nice brown, crispy top, but they are already cooked anyway
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side.
In a oven we grill from the top
Out side we use a bbq or a grill
@@grahamlowe314 Which brings up another distinction here in the US. Grilling food and barbecuing food are different. Grilling means high heat from below and a short cooking time, usually uncovered. Barbecuing is slow heat over a long period of time and is done in an enclosed unit. Most people own something that can do both but restaurants and professionals use separate equipment. Many barbecues look like old oil drums sliced in half from top to bottom and put on their side. In other words, you grill a steak or burger but barbecue a brisket or ribs.
You might also use broil to describe a bad sunburn. Broiling in the sun.
@@hectorsmommy1717
Now in the English speaking world all what you have described is grilling meat. We understand the difference between grilling meat in a house or outside . We also have bbq with covers and know how to cook fast or slow with them .Remember it’s the English language
The expression "Monday morning quarterback" also refers to the fact that most American professional football games are played on Sunday.
I think that’s closer to the real meaning like she said “saying something that already happened” it’s like a quarter back being late Sunday and showing up Monday so sort of being late to the party of saying something
I’ve actually never heard this expression before (Mon morning quarterback “).
@@DogeDragone right. But the reason the phrase refers to Monday morning is that most football games happen on Sunday. That context is needed to know that Monday morning is referring to after an event has already happened.
I more refers to the people that talk about what should have happened during the game. With the benefit of hindsight. Very similar to armchair quarterback
@@flyingwombatazazz6736, similar but not quite the same, an armchair quarterback is slightly different in that an armchair quarterback. An armchair quarterback is often suggesting alternative methods either while or even before the person who is actually responsible for making the call is making them, they often will not be effected by the results of their suggestions or have their idea effect what is going on, they are also often less informed suggestions than a better informed person would be making. A Monday morning quarterback is being criticized for making what they consider the better call after the fact (though clearly it may not be) whereas the armchair quarterback is being criticized for making them while the decision making is going on, either with irritation because their ideas are unwanted or of lower quality than those who are actually making the decisions or has no effect one way or the other on the decision being made in the moment.
John Hancock is actually the one that stated he was going to put his signature on in huge handwriting so that everyone in King George could see it very easily. It’s the biggest signature in the center of the document and it is the easiest to see!
Conversely, Button Guinette signed his signature exceedingly small so if the Revolution failed, the British might not notice it.
Broiling is the cooking technique that uses radiant heat from above to cook your food, so it's like upside-down grilling.
In UK we would call that grilling but the distinction has become blurred since the barbecue gained popularity.
Exactly.
@@Phiyedough grilling in the US is to cook from below with heat (usually flame) passing through a grating that holds the item being grilled. Broiling is heat from above, even the sun will broil you.
I always thought until recently that the Broiler on my oven was a place to store pans.
@@Phiyedough That’s because you misunderstand what barbecue is. Cooking for a short time on a grate over direct, dry, high heat from charcoal, a gas flame or similar is grilling. It is not barbecue. Barbecue involves a lengthy (hours long) cook over low, indirect heat and smoke, with careful control of humidity in the cooking vessel, or barbecue pit. Barbecue involves planning and a significant time commitment. You can’t, e.g., spontaneously invite coworkers to your place for a barbecue after work unless you are planning to eat well past midnight or even late the next day. Throwing a few burgers and sausages on a grill is not barbecue.
John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence and his signature is very prominent (i.e., BIG) in relation to the other founding fathers' signatures. He wanted to make a statement by doing so rather just give his endorsement. Colloquially, "Give me your John Hancock." just means the same thing as "Sign here."
Yes. He signed it large enough, he said, so that King George could read it without his glasses!
It was primarily an act of defiance, since they knew that if their effort failed, they would probably be hunted down and executed for treason, so yeah, might as well sign big.
Even ostensibly educated Yanks (like me) sometimes stumble when referring to the Declaration of Independence vs. the Constitution.
*Fun fact* both have an introductory statement. Only one is titled Preamble.
In the US, you're also a Freshman in the first year of high school, and high schools use Sophomore, Junior, and Senior as well. We usually don't reduce it to anything (that's much more of a British trait with words and phrases).
Well, we do say “frosh” instead of “freshman”, but as for the rest, I can’t think of a shortened version.
@@Gidgetxf never heard that - maybe regional
Sophomoric also means not the best or immature.
In my Highschool older students would teas the freshmen by calling them fish.
@@EccentricAuntWanda1 We used frosh here in the Midwest but that was many, many years ago! Sophomoric is still used on occation!
Behind the Eight Ball: it’s not just a disadvantage. It means you have been put in a difficult position that will be hard to get out of.
...but that is saying the same thing. A disadvantage is just a situation that will be more difficult to accomplish.
@@josiahferrell5022 as I said, it’s not JUST a disadvantage. It’s a particular kind of disadvantage.
@@aramiscalcutt You're thinking "snookered" which is brit slang for thwarted
AKA between a rock and a hard place.
@@mikeevans4585 being behind the eight ball is in the cue ball is his hind the eight ball, so the eight ball will be hit no matter what one of the players on balls he goes for. It’s not just a disability because it’s something that your opponent deliberately tries to do to you so that you have to waste your turn without hitting any balls, which is home table, scratch and allows them to pick up the cue ball behind the shooting line when used correctly, it means either that you’re at the severe disadvantage you can’t keep your balls and they get to place the queue wherever they want or that someone need a dick move that with you and disadvantage and it wasn’t just a turn of luck that put you there
The British version of "behind the eight ball" is "snookered." The whole nine yards comes from cutting cloth, as long ago cloth came in 9 yard bolts, so to go the whole nine yards meant getting it all.
Behind the eight ball also means you're in trouble.
I had heard that "the whole nine yards" came from wwII, when the ammo belts for the machineguns in US fighters were 27 ft long, so if you came back to base without any bullets left you had given the enemy the whole 9 yards
John Hancock was President of the US Congress! He signed the Declaration of Independence the other 55 signed later! He had the biggest signature on it.
A Yd is 3’ (ft) or 36” (in) The whole 9 Yds is the amount of length of .50 caliber ammunition belt in the box. 27 Feet of bullets in the belt of ammunition.
I thought it was a reference to American football. Learn something new every day!
A grill cooks something on the bottom.
A broiler cooks something on the top. The grill touches the food, the broiler doesn’t touch it and thus isn’t a grill.
Important points missed
Monday morning quarterback, traditionally all American football games were on Sunday so Monday morning at work everyone is discussing the games with would've should've could've.
John Hancock on Declaration of Independence his is the largest signature, rumors are that he wanted King George to be able to see it.
Similar to the Monday morning quarterback is the armchair quarterback. The armchair quarterback watches all the football games from his armchair and thinks he knows what everybody should do, even though he may never have even played the game. It also refers to someone who acts like they know everything about a situation, when he really isn't even involved.
In UK we would probably say something like "Hindsight is a wonderful thing" but using a sarcastic tone of voice.
@@Phiyedough Not so much an everyday idiom as an adage, but we do say "Hindsight is 20/20"
Could it be same as "general after battle"?
Not native English speaker here.
@@sabkobds - Exactly.
Note that in the US we also have the derogatory adjective "sophomoric", meaning pretentious but immature.
"Sophomore" is a combination of Greek root words- "Soph" meaning wise, and "More" meaning foolish. Carries a connotation of someone with some knowledge, yet still a fool in other ways.
Yeah, I thought about that too.
It's also common to refer to a band's second album as their sophomore album, which is often not regarded as well as their first album.
@@rhymeswithorange6092 ❤ this
say it louder for the people in the back!
@@NathanMN The sophomore slump
This is what I have heard. "The whole nine yards" originated (I believe) from the WWII 'Flying Tigers' in China. The Curtiss P-40 fighter plane had belt-fed machine guns that had bullet-carrying belts that were nine yards long. If a pilot shot all nine yards at a Japanese airplane, he could say "I gave him the whole nine yards!" meaning, I shot everything I had at the enemy plane. In modern usage, it roughly means: "everything", or "I gave it all I could."
Very well said ! The belts were 27 feet long thus nine yards, you know the rest.
@@CannaMike420 "The rest" is the fact that I'm related to Glenn Curtiss. Whoooo Hoooooo!! 😁
I always thought it had something to do with American football 😅
You are correct
I’ve known this was related to a machine gun belt, but never with the Curtiss P-40 detail. Thanks for “the rest of the story.”
If you told an American you were going to "grill this chicken", they would assume you were going to cook it on either an outdoor grill, like a propane or charcoal grill (what Brits would call a barbecue) or an indoor gas grill (the same thing but with a vent hood over it for grilling without going outside).
In the South, we have a lot of colloquialisms. One of the most common is "I'm fixin' to" which means I am getting ready to do something.
I've also heard "fitna" as in "She's fitna leave for work" .
They say that in the north as well.
Don't forget bless your heart lol
@@t0dd000 what part? I know in VA we may say"hey, Im gonna go to the store" but I don't know if that really counts.
@@PatientPerspective Midwest you hear it all a lot because a lot of us have southern roots😉 Bless y'all's hearts🤗
4:31 We do have the similar term "country mile" to refer to a long, undefined distance. The idea being that rural people greatly underestimate (or understate) distances, since everything is farther apart out in the country, ergo what feels like only one mile to them might in actuality be more like two miles.
...or ten, or a hundred.
Exactly what I thought of too!
But you’d never use a NY minute to describe distance
I just saw this post after I posted mine.
@Tim Bell That's because the phrase is metaphorical for a measure of TIME rather than distance. But I get what you mean.
For about 12 years I worked in the Boston office of a British publishing company. One word I ran across that confused the Brits on the team was “Druthers”. It came up in some discussion; my British boss asked for opinions. I said “If I had my druthers we’d ...”. My response left the Brits on the team furrowing their brows. It basically means “choices”, as in “if the choices were mine”. I’ve understood it comes from a contraction of “I’d rather” and it seems it was popularized by Mark Twain.
I use the expression d'ruthers still ) likely from Mother. Yes to the above, it seems to be a vulgarization of "I'd rather, x or y, if I had my d'ruthers.
In some of the many dialects of Southern American English in the 19th Century, “rather” was pronounced as closer to “ruther”. So “I’d rather” sounded like “I’d ruther” or “I druther” and the expression stuck.
"Pleading the Fifth" is actually on the "grounds it may incriminate" you. That last part is important.
Broiling is cooking something (usually meat but not always) _under_ a close flame. On an oven, the broiler was traditionally a compartment underneath the main oven, so the food would be cooked from above.
Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination, so when your mum asks if you ate the last cookie (biscuit?), you might plead the fifth.
"Hawaiian Time" is pretty much the opposite of a New York Minute. In Hawaii, a party invite that says 7 pm means most folks show up at 8:30 pm.
I've heard "Island Time" which would encompass folks from the greater Pacific island region. Guess they are more laid back 8^)
Same is true of Florida. Specifically if you're at one of the vacation islands (like St. George), they also run on "island time" with similar meaning.
Y’all: The English language once distinguished between singular “thou/thee” and plural “ye/you” but lost these distinctions starting around the 16th cent. or so. It turns out, however, that it’s useful to have separate singular and plural pronouns in the second person. Different dialects have come up with different solutions: In Brooklyn, it’s “youze.” In Pittsburgh, it’s “y’inz.” In the Midwest, it’s “you guys.” In the South, it’s “y’all,” and for emphasis, it’s “ALL y’all.”
And "y'inz" has its roots in the Appalachian speech of West Virginia (since so many in Western PA hail from W. Va.): it's a contraction of "you'uns, which is a further contraction of "you young ones." "Young'uns" to "you'uns" to "Y'inz.". Or y'all. Fun with American dialects! :)
I mainly hear you guys on the West Coast. I say you guys. I moved to the Midwest and hear most people saying y’all.
You guys is used in England, too. I just heard it on episode 2 of the current series of The Bay, which takes place in Morecambe.
In the St Louis area it is "Youse guys"
A true southerner would never say all y’all, it’s redundant. We also wouldn’t say y’all in regards to one person. It is plural.
When referring to high school/college (University) years, some are obvious. "Freshman", as a way to denote the newest and "Senior" to denote the oldest are pretty straight forward. Junior is a little odd, but essentially means 'younger than the seniors'. The really interesting name is Sophomore: This is thought to derive from folk use of two Greek terms, sophos, meaning “wise,” and moros, meaning “foolish, dull,”. Sophomore originally probably meant a wise moron! I think this is applied to 2nd year students as many THINK they are now experienced, but they still have a lot to learn. This term dates back to the 1650s.
In English, the second person plural pronoun is the same as the second person singular pronoun, "you." This can create confusion in speech, so various different words have developed to serve as the second person plural pronoun. In much of the US south, "y'all" is that second person plural. Around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the equivalent is "yinz." Other places have other substitutes, such as "you'ns" and others.
Yes, Pittsburgh is famous for 'yinz'.
Pittsburgh has possibly the most distinct regional accent in the US
And in NYC area it's youse pronounced use, as in youse guys
English used to have different second person pronouns, "thou" was singular and "ye" was plural. "Y'all" actually comes from "ye-all."
I'm from cali so we kinda just say "you guys" like a nonbinary term to refer to a group of people, but i try to say "y'all" more often so it's more inclusive :P
I love it that you make sure to make a use for each sentence! It makes a big difference. Thank you!
"For the birds"
The phrase was coined in the US military during World War II. The original phrase included a swear word, talking about birds pecking at horse manure for seeds. That's for the birds hit its peak in popularity around the 1960s. It was used more often within the United States.
Here in the South, we sometimes say, "All y'all." It generally means more people than just y'all ... so everybody in a particular situation. For example, when addressing a few people at a large table in a restaurant, "So y'all want the pulled pork? Oh, all y'all want that?" as in everybody at the table does.
1:16 - She forgot to mention that NFL games are typically played on Sundays, that why "Monday Morning QB" is all about himdsight
In reference to the sophomore phrase, the same is the case for American high school. Additionally, 'freshman' can be used to mean a newly incoming politician. (e.g., a freshman representative.)
Sophomore can also mean the second of something like an artist's second album. It's a very limited use of the word though; it's not an exact synonym of the word 'second'.
The word "sophomore" is derived from Greek words meaning "wise fool." By the time students are sophomores, they think they know it all.
I would’ve included that we also refer to Freshmen and Sophomores as underclassmen, while Juniors and Seniors are known as upperclassmen.
@@davidneman6527 Yes, hence calling something sophomoric when it's much less mature than the person thinks it is.
@@smoothALOE Good point!
Sophomore is the abbreviation of "sophisticated moron" which would be offensive to some these days. But the implication is that second year students think they have some wisdom, but they really are 'sophisticated.... "
PS. A university is a collection of colleges. You go to the university of Illinois but you are in the college of engineering or liberal arts or business. As opposed to going to Augustana College which is a liberal arts school entirely.
Yep.
Didn't realize pre-med was a liberal arts course. Learn something new everyday.
@@raphaelsolo it would be classified as a bachelor of science degree
@@raphaelsolo Tons of things are Liberal Arts that most people wouldn’t even think of.
I'm an American but I just love the phrase from England "Bob's your uncle" I love using it sometimes to just have people go ...huh? lol
What does it mean?
@@mimat1427 basically it means when you're figuring something out or came to a conclusion. "There you go!"
My wife fell in love with it from the Disney 101 Dalmatians (animated) and Cruela movies.
In WWII, the Grumman F6 Hellcat fighter’s machine guns’ ammo belt had enough bullets to be nine yards long (2400 rounds, IIRC). So a pilot might go into a strafing run on a aircraft carrier (for example) and say, “I got it in my gunsights and _gave it the whole nine yards_ “ - shot his entire ammo load on it.
I have heard that each gunner on the bombers , b17 b24, in ww2 had nine yards of ammunition.
Thank you for explaining this as I didn’t want to have to do it myself lol.
Thank you! I’ve used that my whole life and didn’t know it’s origin❤️🐝🤗
I was gonna say this, but checked the comments just in case someone beat me to it! 😂 I’m quite surprised not many people know this
Interesting. I've heard many explanations for it but not that one. My favorite is that a full Highland great kilt is 9 yards.
Ironically, I always heard "the whole nine yards" was of Scottish origin, referring to the length of cloth it took to make a kilt that "covered everything." After doing some research, I think it mostly just means "all of the fabric" because fabric was sold in bolts that came in multiples of 3 yards, so "the whole 6 yards" or "the whole 9 yards" became common sayings that meant "used everything up."
Hi guys! Good video. Actually, sophomore is taken from two Greek words meaning " wise fool"
But in this context, it refers to the second year at college.
The idea is that after someone has had one year of experience, whether in high school or college, they think they know it all. But they still have a lot to learn.
The word "sophomoric" equates to stupidity.
“That speech our new boss just gave was rather “Sophomorish.”
Think "sophisticated moron" if you want to really get the etymology at a gut level.
Fun fact: there were two idioms that are connected to phrases or regional words in Germany. We also say "Knock on wood" for pretty much the same situation. And famously, a grilled chicken is called a "broiler" in Eastern Germany.
I'm from Chile, South America, and we also say "knock on wood." I'd say all latinos say it. Same meaning
I take a bit of an exception for the broiled = grilled. "Broiled" usually inside oven ov a rack or sheet. Grilled usually in a pan, such as s black wrought iron pan on top of the oven.
The term broil is referenced in Alice through the Looking Glass, which starts with the words "'Twas brillig" which is explained as meaning the time of day when you start broiling things for dinner. So it was in common UK usage in Victorian times.
People do use knock on wood here, and if no actual wood is available will tap their own heads.
@@aspenrebel In the US, a grill is a cooking surface with parallel metal bars -- a gridiron. To grill usually means to cook on a gridiron (even though grilled cheese is cooked in a pan or griddle). Broiling is more general, referring to any cooking by high, dry heat.
In the US, raw chickens are usually designated as fryers, roasters, or broilers -- indicating the recommended method of cooking the bird.
You guys are terrific together! Regarding the "freshman" word, some people will shorten the word to "frosh."
On the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock was the first signer and his signature is the largest. Supposedly, he said that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles..
I guess John Hancock signed His name in Big , Bold , Fancy letters to P*ssed off King George.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm given to understand that "The whole 9 yards" came from WW2. The 50 cal ammo belts for American fighter planes were purportedly 9 yards long.
Freshman, sophomore, junior and senior are also used to denote a hierarchy in the student body. The terms are used in American High Schools as well as Universities
And in the universities the designation reflects the number of credits that have been completed. A person could be finished with their first year, but if they didn’t complete enough credits (they were going part time or dropped or flunked classes) they would still technically be a freshman. Our university considered 12 credits a semester as full-time but you’d actually need to complete 32 credits per year to move up to the next rank. I don’t remember if high school cared about the number of units completed per year but you needed to have completed the required courses and a certain amount of units to graduate.
My favorite British phrase. I watched a British comedy in which a lady announced that she "could really use a good rodgering." Love that term!
Sophomore: The Greek words σοφός (wise) and μωρός (fool) put together, "Sophos" and "Moronic". Sophomoric means that someone may have done a lot of reading and studying but lacks real-world experience and wisdom.
I’d liken it more to the Dunning-Kruger effect where someone has had some education and thinks they’re smart, but isn’t as smart as they think they are.
I've met too many people like this. Book smart, but not a drop of common sense.
There's also the adjective sophomoric, which means juvenile and/or overconfident in one's knowledge and poorly informed.
@@amym.4823 those are the kind of people that introduced mansplaining. 😂
"knock on wood" is used by the British as "touch wood." It was so used in the film Master and Commander: The Other Side of the World. It's origin is in fact Celtic.
I wasn't sure if the British used that phrase. Thank you. I know that the Irish say, "Touch wood" and it means basically the same thing as in America
It"s funny, but here in Slovenia ( and other ex Yugoslav countries as well) we have "knock on wood" superstition also! In Serbia they usually say:"Knock on wood so evil can"t hear you!"
Here in the US, it comes from the belief that Druids or fairies live in the trees and you "knock on wood" so that they won't take offense and change your luck. I always thought it came from the Irish, but maybe not.
@@janusloggins876 It probaly comes from Kelts..
Freshman, sophomore, Jr, Sr are also used during the 4 years of high school, not just university.
Also, African Americans will use "y'all" regardless of where they live. It's a part of their vernacular.
True. I've definitely heard some people from non-southern states say "y'all", so it has spread from the South.
In UK (unless it has changed since I went to school) high school lasts either 5 years or 7 years, so we don't really have names for the particular years. A possible source of confusion is that the 6th form lasts 2 years, the lower 6th and the upper 6th.
I thought the same when she said that 😂
Black people from New York definitely say y'all!! 😂 which makes sense because we originated in the south.
@@TheJazzy1980 : That's exactly what I was gonna say! "Black people say y'all no matter where they live", is because almost all of them are from the South.
Ask this guy about the obsolete British Monarchy and about fish and chips.
He would give you a ton of answers.
The whole nine yards stems from the length of a string of ammunition in world war 2 aircraft. When a pilot unloaded his entire string of ammunition into another aircraft, he gave the other pilotthe whole nine yards.
Most idiomatic phrases would not be a problem for English speakers, problems would arise for people who don’t have English as their first language. When I was training people at work I avoided slang and idioms. It made life so much simpler.
"In the ball park" & "threw them a curve ball" are both particularly American phrases, since they come from baseball. "In the ball park" means "in the vicinity, in the same general region," & not just physically speaking -- a numerical estimate is often called a "ball park figure" since it's supposed to be a number that's "in the ball park" of the exact figure. "Throwing someone a curve ball" is springing something unexpectedly on someone -- another baseball expression for something unexpected would be that something "came out of left field".
The Oxford English dictionary dates the use of "the whole nine yards" to 1855, & apparently "the whole six yards" was used earlier still, but it's not clear if it's talking about yards of ground or yards of fabric or yards of rope or yards of distance or what. We also have "the whole ball of wax", "the whole enchilada", & "the whole shebang" which all mean exactly the same thing as "the whole nine yards". "For the birds" apparently comes from WWII US military slang -- due to birds being observed pecking seeds out of horse manure, anything third rate or useless was called "sh*t for the birds", which was subsequently cleaned up to be "it's for the birds".
Now *I* want to know about the origins of the Northern English expression "trouble at t'mill"!
The commonly considered origin for "the whole nine yards" refers to the supposed length of ammo belts carried in a WWII fighter plane's wings. So, "I gave him the whole nine yards" meant the pilot shot all his ammo at one target.
Throw them back a googly.
"Trouble at t'mill" means there's a big, usually on-going problem. It comes from the industrial revolution when whole towns (especially in Yorkshire and Lancashire) were reliant on the employment at a mill (e.g. for the manufacture of fabrics). As problems on which a whole area depended on were far-reaching, "trouble at t'mill" was very serious. When it wasn't literally true because there was problems at a factory, it became a somewhat humerous phrase. I recommend watching the British comedy drama of "Brass" (ITV & Channel 4, 1983-1990) which illustrates it perfectly.
@@lancerevell5979 - that usage may have contributed to its popularity, but the phrase was in use long before aviation. One of the earliest usages referred to a seamstress who had been given nine yards of cloth, ordinarily enough for three shirts, and used the whole nine yards to make one - presumably rather fancy - shirt.
High School - 9th grade = Freshman, 10th grade = Sophomore, 11th grade - "Junior" 12th grade = "Senior."
Tom hit the nail on the head with some of his examples.
I was pretty impressed on how quickly he caught on to the meanings of these phrases.
Scripted of course
He already talked about freshman and sophomore on a video he made like four years ago, so he already knew.
Yeah, it's more-than-likely that he did his due diligence before filming. He's a pro; been at this for enough years, he's not terribly likely to get caught unawares.😉
It’s almost like he knows and explained it a bit better than her
New York Minute is also used when stating that you really like to do something. “Yes! I’d go to see La Traviata with you in a New York minute!”
There are several origins that I've heard for "the whole nine yards," but the one I give the most credence to is that upper-class women would buy cloth for clothing for themselves and their families, usually in nine-yard bolts. They would then give the cloth to their servants who made their clothes (or, in some cases, to a piece-work clothesmaker) and specify what they wanted made from it. Because these lower-class tradesmen and women had the habit of keeping some of the cloth for themselves, to use to make their own clothes, they would often be braced to use "the whole nine yards" on the garments they were being told to make. In that version of the saying, it has the meaning of "going all in" on a goal, without necessarily considering your own needs first. So, when you give it your all, with no concern for yourself, you're going "the whole nine yards."
Personally, I'm partial to its origin being with early fighter planes. The ammunition belts for their machine guns were supposedly 9 yards long. Any fighter plane that returned from a sortie with no ammunition was said to have given the enemy "the whole nine yards".
@@MikeDCWeld if you go count the rounds they carried and the length that would be you'll see that they vary greatly as more and less than 9 yards.
I was going to add “my two cents” and say something about John Hancock and about freshman / frosh - but I see that others have already weighed in on those topics.
Frosh is used sometimes as the plural of freshman, but it's an older term.
When he signed the Declaration of Independence he did it was a bold hand, in a conspicuous manner, and rose from his seat, pointing to it, and said, “There, John Bull can read my name without spectacles, he may double his reward, and I put his at defiance.”
king George, NOT John Bull.
@@gemoftheocean John Bull is the symbol of England. He was saying all of England can read his name.
One phrase that I've noticed confusion from foreigners about was "What's happening?" It's a standard non-specific greeting but people not from the US think it refers to something specific.
In response to "What's happening?", I respond "Same old, Same old". Or "S² D²".
Those in the US who were alive in the 80s will recognize "What's happening?" as a non-specific greeting. We even had a television show called What's Happening!! in the 80s. Awesome show!
Maybe it’s generational? Older people in the USA know it’s non-specific. Generally, the answer to What’s happening? is It’s all good, you? or Not much, you? No one needs a verbal blow-by-blow of your day/week/year.
What’s happening? became noticed in the Southern US, the Caribbean, and the UK in the 1950s. Took off in the ‘70s (I think because of Jesus Christ Superstar), and then there was the sit-com. My $0.2.
Also, people in the U.S saying "hey, how's it going?" We're not actually asking to stop and chat, it's a simple greeting as you passby.
@@instantfizz It was a term from the 1970s. What’s Happening aired from ‘76-‘79.
The whole nine yards (to give all you got) comes from WWII fighter aircraft, the ammo belts for the guns where nine yards long. Giving the whole nine yards was giving the other guy all the ammo you had.
Look it up on Wikipedia. The phrase predates WWI, so it can't refer to WWII aircraft.
Declaration of Independence: 1776. Constitution: 11 years later.
John Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence is by far the largest. It is claimed he did so “King George could read it even without his spectacles.”
Broil is specifically to use the top heating element inside an oven, rather than the bottom heating element; it's hotter so it cooks quicker, plus it browns the top of food, so you get bubbly and browned nelted cheese on top of a casserole by broiling it for a few minutes after baking it most of the way through.
In informal conversation, using the phrase, "I plead the Fifth" _can_ mean that you don't want to say anything that will get you into trouble, but it can _also_ mean that you don't feel in any way obliged to answer the question just asked.
In some games of pool, you're not allowed to touch the 8-ball with the cue-ball until the very end of the game. To do so beforetime causes you to be disqualified and lose the game. But if the ball that you need to sink into a pocket next is "behind the 8-ball," you have a very big and important obstacle to overcome.
The sophomore thing is also used other context as well. I've mostly heard it when talking about music artists, referring to their second album as their "sophomore" album. I also think I've heard the first album being called "freshman debut"
Also the dreaded "sophomore slump" - that second album that doesn't live up the debut.
No Louisiana minutes, but here's a "hot minute" which in the South is the opposite of a New York minute. You might say for instance, "it's been a hot minute since we last got together" meaning it's been quite a while. But in the North it still kind of menas "quickly".
There's another concept called "island time" in Florida and Hawaii, where the idea is basically, the natives there are happy to kind of let things go with the flow, so things will happen whenever they want them to. It refers not per se to unpredictably, but that things will happen kind of slowly at their own pace. Of course, you can't say it the way you use new york minute or hot minute. Instead, it's more an explanation. Like, "When will they open?" is answered with "They're on island time." Or, "Do you think we're going to get our food?"; "I don't know, they're on island time".
As for freshie--you can say freshie. But "freshmeat" is more common to refer to the new underclassmen.
For what it's worth, I think you'd enjoy some of the Southern sayings. They tend to be more colorful. They can also tend to have double meanings. Like, "bless your heart" or "Aren't you precious"--totally opposite the seeming meaning. Or "pot calling the kettle black". "Shit or get off the pot". "Triple bagger" (someone so ugly they get a bag, you get a bag, and they get a second just in case both of yours fall off). "A quart half empty" (meaning of someone that they're full of shit). "Playing without a full deck" (meaning someone is crazy or stupid). "Finer than a frog's hair" (a genuine compliment). "Like a pig in shit" (meaning very happy) or "shit-eating grin" (as of someone pleased with themself). "Burn that bridge when we get there" (meaning we know there's problems eminently with the current direction but we can worry about them as they arise). "Fair to middlin'" (meaning doing okay, not great, but not bad). "Can't never did", similar to "Can't never could". And "Big fish in a little pond" along with "Little fish in a big pond".
Anyways, I just find southern aphorisms and idioms colorful and gun.
Good ones!
The Monday morning aspect is because most (professional) American football games are played on Sundays or Sunday football
One of the few things I really enjoy about the south, is that I get to use triple and even sometimes quadruple contractions. For example, shouldn’t’ve, i’dn’t, ain’t’ve, etc. in that vein you get the idea. They’re very fun to whip out in text form bc most ppl I know don’t notice them auditorally
Fixin’ to! (Getting ready to do something/ go somewhere)
I have used y'all're many times. "If y'all're ready, let's go!"
Or other bizarre figures of speech. My ex-wife used the expression "might could have." Made me LOL every time.
jeet? = did you eat?
@@Moohasha1 My house: If y’all’re all ready, y’all’d best git goin’. Ah’ll holler at all y’all later, k? 😄
Y'all is definitely a regional thing. People in other parts of America will say You-All or You Guys. Just different ways of addressing multiple people at the same time, ie. 2nd Person Plural.
In Texas and its environs, you'll also hear something of a greeting like "Howdy Y'All!" The "Howdy" is short for the ancient greeting "How do you do?"
In Southern Illinois, we say Y'all. We are a strange amalgamation of the South and the Mid West.
In some places, particularly in the mideast, they use "yins" instead.
Or yooz
@@craigplatel813 hey, youse ghuys!
@@michelehenne2477
We say Y'all in central Illinois too but it's more like 'Y'all be doin' too much' and 'TF is y'all doin'?' No twang added😂
In Spain we also say touch wood, and the meaning is the same. Instead of knocking, we touch the table with the index and pinky, like this 🤘, and if there's none around, we touch our own head
Here in the US, we would knock on our heads if there is no wood❤️🐝🐝
The whole 9 yards. The video I saw said that is originated with the soldier's machine gun. For example: another soldier asks if this soldier shot the enemy. He says, "Yes and I gave him the whole 9 yards too." There is a belt with bullets and it feeds into the machine gun so the soldier can fire those bullets. The belt that holds the bullets is 27 feet long. Or 9 yards. When you gave the enemy the whole 9 yards, you shot "all" of the bullets in the belt. All 9 yards of it.
Thanks. I had always assumed it was another American football metaphor.
I feel it is still a reference to American Football, to go nine yards is almost a first down. Obviously going one more yard in the next down will get you a first down, allowing you to continue your march down the field. No? Please, others chime in!
"The whole nine yards" came about from purchasing dirt, top soil or sand. Early on dirt and sand was sold by the cubic yard, 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. Most early dirt dump trucks and trailers held a maximum of 9 cubic yards, or 729 cubic feet. The more earth you bought, the cheaper the unit price by the way, if your figures indicated that you needed 8 and 1/2 yards of earth people would go ahead and order; THE WHOLE NINE YARDS.
According to Wikipedia, "the whole nine yards" refers to a bolt of cloth. The context is that in order to make a very large, luxurious shirt, the tailor had to use the whole nine yards of cloth; cloth that usually would make three shirts. The term was attested in 1855, so it predates American football.
So informative, but sad.
In college the terms freshman, sophomore and whatever is actually based on how many credits you have earned not how many years you have been there. I was only a freshman for one semester and graduated in less than four years. In high school it’s different.
Apparently you've never read "Through the Looking Glass", since Humpty Dumpty, in explaining the strange words in Jabberwocky, says that "brillig" refers to the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.
Y’all in the south, you guys in the north. Grew up in Texas but studied in New York and you unconsciously change it based on who you’re around.
There's a great scene in the 1942 movie "Casablanca" when the piano player, Sam, sings the song "Knock on Wood"
There's an advanced version of "y'all" that southerners also use very frequently (at least where i'm from which is Texas.) "Y'all'd've." Which is short for "you all would have" or "you all could have."
I just posted above about that! They say it in Alabama, too.
WWII machine gun ammo was nine yards long so you would give the enemy the whole nine yards.
I'm from the US South. I heard the saying "a country mile" - meaning something isn't closeby or it takes a long time to do something. Anyway, I've always used the term "John Hancock" . As in: 'where do I sign my John Hancock" or "can you read my John Hancock"
Y'all has so many more versions that can make anyone learning American English cross their eyes. my favorite is all'y'all'd've, which roughly translates to "all of you all should have"
We have another quarterback phrase: armchair quarterback(ing). It refers to someone with more information expressing an opinion on the decisions of the quarterback (in the context of watching a football game) or equivalent decision-making person (in the context of other sports or other life situations). Both are annoying, but armchair quaterbacking is done in real-time as opposed to after the fact.
Akin to backseat driving!
"The Whole 9 Yards" means "Everything" - In WW2 when shot up and damaged American bombers would fly back their bases in England, they would often dump any unnecessary weight out of the aircraft to help them get back home. One of those things were the unspent ammo and belts of ammo, which were 9 yards in total. Hence, the order to dump the whole 9 yards meant to throw everything out of the aircraft.
On the subject of Y'all. While attending Aviation Challenge (simulated pilot training summer camp) in Huntsville, Alabama there was a girl in our group that was from the South that used Y'all a lot. To the point that the rest of us, about a dozen of us, started using it so much that she became frustrated with our overuse of it. At which point she chided us with "Y'all better stop saying Y'all, Y'all"
One of my favorite memories is from when I was studying at a military training school. We had a female soldier from Georgia who had a thick accent and of course said y'all all the time. One day before class, myself, my goofy friend from California, and an army sergeant with a tough exterior but was really a super cool dude, were sitting in the classroom and bullshitting. For some reason, my goofy friend capped off his sentence with a y'all. Sergeant looked at him with a death glare and said "if I ever effing hear you say y'all ever again-" and was immediately cut off by our Georgia girl opening the door, sticking her head in, and saying "hey y'all!"
One of the most annoying things I've seen is when Yankees try to use y'all but use it in the singular when speaking to only one person. I hope y'all weren't doing that. The only time that's acceptable is when through the context it's clear you're asking someone about themselves and their family or partner who isn't present.
Also, did they still have that room full of animal traps made by the special forces guy? Did they still teach that, for in case a pilot gets shot down behind enemy lines and has to survive by living off the land?
The whole nine yards is a phrase used a lot here but not too many people know where it came from. It was used back in the day when you'd have to go and get your dresses personally made. You can technically make a dress with just a few yards but the best possible dresses required 9 yds. So a dressmaker would say, "do you want the whole nine yards?" Meaning the most you could possibly do or the best you can possibly have.
In the Pittsburgh PA area, "yinz" replaces y'all. It's just in this region. Anyone who comes here is a little confused (I was). There are many unusual phrases unique to the area. They originated in England - Yorkshire, I'm guessing, as "red up" was used by Charlotte Bronte, and that means to "make ready." It used to be for making a person ready; now it's used here in relation to your home/closet, etc. "Red up my house."
People only think it's "yinz" because the store owner from Ohio started making t-shirts that had it spelled that way. "Yunz" or "youns" are actually somewhat of a contraction of "you guys", not "yi guys".
@@ronk9830 when said with a Pittsburgh accent, it definitely sounds more like a short ‘I’ rather than a short ‘U’ though.
@@Geffde Children, perhaps. Or if wearing a t-shirt that says it that way, because an outsider decided that's the way it's spelled.
The whole nine yards comes from world war 2. American fighter planes had ammo belts 9 yards long that fed the machine gun. The original meaning was to use all 9 yards of the ammo belt on a single target. Nowadays we use it as “everything” in a way. A little less bloody lol
A whole 9 yards refers to a sailing ship, all sails unfurled. 3 yards per sail. If you are going at it you are using a full 9 yards.
John Hancock was actually one of the last signers of the Declaration of Independence . He wrote his signature in bold script because he wanted King George III to read it without his spectacles . During the Revolution John Hancock owned a shipping company . The British seized his ships and his home , so he was very angry at the British Crown .
FYI: "Whole nine yards": references that belts of 50 caliber bullets were loaded into WW2 planes at 9 yards. When the gun was done firing all the bullets in that belt. You gave them the "whole 9 yards".
originated as U.S. Army slang in World War II; the original phrase was “that's shit for the birds", but it was altered later to remove the expletive and make it less “vulgar". It came from the observation that birds would often peck at horse manure for seeds buried in it.
If you look hard enough, you can find abbreviations for literally anything, including personal pronouns; but in general, I don't think "freshman" and "sophomore" usually get abbreviated in most contexts. Also, these terms aren't just for college; we also use them in high school.
"Knock on wood" is much too old to be of American origin. In fact, it already was older than rocks before the Angles and Saxons arrived in Britain.
Sources that I check now, are consistently claiming that "for the birds" only dates to the nineteen forties and originally referred to birds pecking at horse droppings. In the past, I had been given to understand that it dated to nineteenth century Europe and referred to the custom of breaking stale bread into crumbs and throwing it outside (whereupon, predictably, it would be eaten by birds), but I cannot now find any evidence for that etymology, and unfortunately I don't remember where I heard it in the first place.
A broiler pan has two parts: the bottom part is basically just a tray (with edges to prevent spilling into the oven), and then the top part sits inside that, elevated an inch or so, and has slits in it. You can put food (typically greasy meat) on top, and put it in the oven, and the grease will drip down through the slits, so that your food isn't soaking in it. To "broil" something is to cook it on a broiler pan, in the oven. Grilling is kind of similar but is normally done outdoors, on a grill (usually over open flames), rather than indoors, in an oven. However, the distinction does occasionally get blurred, e.g., Burger King used to advertise that their meat was "flame broiled", and while they were doing it indoors, their cooking apparatus was more like a grill than an oven.
The second-person pronouns in English keep going through this cycle, wherein the singular forms aren't used very much and become archaic, but then the plural forms start to be used for both singular and plural, and then people are dissatisfied with the ambiguity and invent new expressly-plural forms, like "you guys" and "youse" (and then "youse guys") and "yinz" (and then "all yinz") and "y'all" (and then "all y'all"). Recently I have even seen some reports of "all y'all" showing up in the singular; so far, I have not heard of anyone taking the logical next step beyond that (which I suppose might be something like "all all-y'all" or "all y'all guys" or possibly "alls y'allsies"), but time will tell.
British terms that Americans don't necessarily know include "digestive" and "sticky wicket". We also get somewhat confused by the many and varied (and in some cases rather sordid) British (ab)uses of the word "pudding".
@@ryacus I've actually had digestives, but only because I deliberately sought them out; most Americans have no idea what they are. I like to describe them as "In the same general category as graham crackers and vanilla wafers, but not exactly the same as either, and sometimes they have a thin layer of chocolate on them." That's imprecise, but it's the best I can do.
The Expression, "The Whole Nine Yards." dates back to World War II. The machine guns on the fighter planes had a belt of ammunition that was nine yards long. So if you were firing all your bullets at the enemy, that was known as "Giving them the whole nine yards." It's usually used in a context to describe something unpleasant. Example, "The upstairs toilet sprung a leak, itthe water damage destroyed all the furniture in the living room, the carpet, the wall paper--the whole nine yards."
Broil and grill are actually opposites. In grilling the heat source is below the food. It actually leaves marks on the food like little parallel lines. Broiling is when the heat is ABOVE the food. The element at the top of the oven is the only one being used, with the food getting crispy on top. This is found on electric and gas ovens in North America. Sometimes gas ovens will have a special more shallow lower section below the main oven that uses the same flames, but now you locate the food beneath the flames, instead of under them as in baking or frying.
Many languages including all romance languages have a plural version of "you" different from the singular word. English does not, but in the South we say Y'all. She is right that it is a contraction of "you all", but we don't think of those words while saying or writing it. She's right though - it sounds good and is fun to say.
In the Pittsburgh region it's younz (or yinz depending on who you ask).
English has many plural forms of you! But, as others here have pointed out, most are regional and none is standard.
One origin for “The whole nine yards” is that World War II aircraft machine gun belts were nine yards long and they would use that phrase “Give ‘em the whole nine yards.”
Y'all did an excellent job on this video. 😁
John Hancock's signature was on the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. And what made it distinctive was not that he signed first, but that he signed in such large letters that his signature is the most prominent.
Deeper dive…
Y’all is actually singular, as in “Hey John, where y’all going for lunch?”
Plural is “all y’all”, as in “Hey everybody, where are all y’all going for lunch?”
…. At least in my experience.
🙂
Actually Y’all is always plural, and All Y’all is more emphasis. it comes from the Scottish “Ye All”, a plural phrase.
@@RGF19651 and in U. S. English it's a contraction for "you all". I agree, it's plural. "All y'all" would be addressing a larger group.
@@tpatt525_Tiff_ The etymology of many words is often murky, but I think if you would take a survey of US southerners, most would agree that “y’all” is second person plural. I like your comment on “All Y’all” addresses a larger group, again plural.
I got called out in high school for saying You all instead of Y’all, I’m from Oklahoma and went to school in Texas. My classmates were like where are you from? 😂
She kinda glossed over the usefulness of a y'all such as asking 'hey are y'all going to the movies?' Maybe she should said its like saying 'you guys' cause the examples of you all given were awkward and she didn't even get into it being used as a singular term for a group instead of the plural for people cause 'all of y'all' is a phrase used to mean multiples of different multiples.
"The Whole Nine Yards" - I am aware of two sources.
1. Refers to Dress-making; a ream of fabric is 9 yards long. That is a lot of fabric to use to make one dress!
2. A belt of .50 caliber rounds used in the machine gun P-51 World War 2 aircraft is 9 yards long.
So the phrase "the whole nine yards" is in reference to machine gun ammunition. Specifically, it was the amount of ammunition needed to get into enemy tanks, because the belt was nine yards long. So to go the whole nine yards is to give everything that you've got.
The whole nine yards came from WWII gunners on bombers. A belt of ammunition for the .50 caliber guns was 9 yards long. So when they were shooting at enemy fighters, they would tell the gunner to give them the “whole nine yards” i.e. shoot all of the bullets at them. Now it means “ to have everything/to include everything”.